Different
by Haraio
Summary: "My name is Tayuya, and I'm different." - Tayuya is a seemingly normal teenager in high school, but she hides a shameful secret. What could it be? Tayuya x Shikamaru, rated M for language and lemons in later chapters. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS!


Hi everyone!

This is a new fanfic that I will be working on regularly in addition to my main fanfic. This one will be shorter, both in number and length of the chapters, but that means that I will probably update it with more punctuality compared to New Life of the Sound Demon :-)

This story will detail the life of Tayuya and Shikamaru as best friends in high school, which is a chance for me to try out a new and different setting than what is normal with this pairing. I also get the chance to practice more with writing in first person :-D

Anyway, on with the story!

**Chapter 1: The Outcasts**

Do you know what the most amusing thing about high school is? It is the fact that everyone is trying _so_ hard to be unique and different, to stand out from the safe and secure crowd of faceless losers. And yet, few really manage to do it. Sooner or later, everyone will go back to being an invisible, anonymous drone, another blank face in the school halls.

Some people would at this point say some stupid crap about everyone being unique and special in their own right. Yeah, right. In a place like this, you're not unique unless you're in the rich and popular 'elite' sphere. And how, may you ask, do I have such a good understanding of uniqueness?

Well, to say it simply, I'm different. No, not different in the way everyone else is trying so desperately to be. I'm very much different from everyone else at this school, but no one else knows. That's the way I'd like things to stay too. You see, I really don't want to be different. But my uniqueness is my curse, a shameful burden that I have to carry on my shoulders throughout my whole life.

My name is Tayuya, and I'm different.

- - - - -

I flicked slowly through the pages of the history book lying on the table in front of me, bored out of my mind. There was nothing but dates, useless facts, and more fucking dates. Why did history have to be so incredibly boring? It was like every word just went straight through my head and out the other side. I just couldn't remember a single thing, and it was pissing me off more and more. Worse still, I was going to have a history test right after lunch, and I still didn't know shit. Who was I kidding? I was _so_ fucked.

Irately, I pushed a rouge strand of crimson hair from my brown eyes. Right now I seriously wished I had a damn hair clip, to put the deviant lock in its place. Of course, I had no hair clip on hand, and thus my long, dark red hair kept falling into the spot right between my eyes, tickling the bridge of my nose in a particularly annoying way. Not for the first time, I wondered if it was time to get a haircut.

The half-empty bowl next to my book kept reminding me that lunch was already halfway passed, and that my impending doom was approaching with long strides. I looked desperately around in the cafeteria, hoping I would spot my saviour anywhere. I needed the one person who could help me get at least a basic understanding of history before the test, so that I could at least pass if nothing else.

Looking around in the wide, spacious cafeteria, my heart slowly sank. There were lots of people having lunch at the moment, from what I could see from my empty table in the corner closest to the exit, but not the person I was looking for. I recognised some of the students in my class, but none whom I could ask for help. You see, my friends and I are what most people would call outcasts. We stick to ourselves and don't really mingle that much with other people. It's safer that way.

_There!_ There he was, finally! I smiled in relief as the guy I was looking for entered the cafeteria. He stopped just inside the door and looked around for a minute before he finally saw me. Our eyes met and Shikamaru nodded his head in a silent greeting. I lifted my hand and waved him over, desperately hoping he could help me not only with the history, but also combat the boredom which was slowly but steadily sucking my soul dry.

- - - - -

**Shikamaru's Point of View:**

I quickly made my way out of the literature class as the session ended, my mind slowly waking from its boredom-induced hibernation. I was among the first students out of the lecture hall, and for good reason. Literature was probably interesting to certain people, but not when the teacher spent more than two hours talking about the same bloody book. Our literature teacher, Hatake-sensei, was obviously completely enamoured with the major works of S. Jiraiya, speaking for hours on end about the political and social commentaries apparently present between the lines of the famed author's writings. To me it just seemed like a bunch of badly written smut, but then again I've never been a person for fine literature.

Leaving the boring literature class behind, I made my way towards the cafeteria. Luckily the lunch room was pretty close to the lecture hall I had just been in, because a quick look at my wrist watch told me the lunch break was already half-way passed. I silently cursed the literature teacher for liking the sound of his own voice, since I now had preciously little time to grab myself some food, or risk going hungry for the next few hours, which was not a very welcome prospect.

As I reached the cafeteria, I instinctively gazed around the room, looking for a place to sit. There's little reason to get a tray full of food if you have nowhere to sit, after all. After a few seconds of surveying my surroundings, I spotted a familiar face at the empty table in the closest corner. Tayuya waved me over, and I willingly complied, walking over to join her at her table.

Tayuya and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. We've basically gone through the entire school system together, all the way from elementary and up to where we are now, as second-year high school students. Our apartments are actually not very far apart, so she tends to hang out at my place a lot. I guess the reason we get along so well is because she's very different from other girls.

If it wasn't for the fact that has breasts and long, crimson hair, you might've been forgiven to think she's a guy. At least if you were to judge by her personality. Tayuya is a real tomboy, through and through. She loves playing football, avoids fashion like the plague, and she also has a thing for video games involving some type of bodily harm; in fact, she kicks my ass at 95% of the video games we play in my apartment. I could never imagine myself doing that with any of the other girls at school.

As I pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Tayuya, I noticed the open book in front of her, and the half-empty bowl next to her. I could feel my stomach growling in complaint as I looked at the remains of the stew. Tayuya grinned at me, obviously pleased to see me.

"What took you so long?" she asked me, placing her elbows on the table and leaning towards me over her book. "Lunch started like twenty minutes ago."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I had literature with Hatake-sensei," I said, and the pained grimace that appeared on Tayuya's face told me that she was well aware of what I had just been through. "Fucking boring as usual?" she asked with her characteristically cheeky grin, and I nodded, her smile starting to get contagious.

"Like you wouldn't believe." I chuckled, my mood rising.

- - - - -

**Tayuya's POW:**

I kind of pitied him, I really did. I knew very well how boring the literature classes were, but right now I had my own problems which I needed help with. I spun the book around towards him, and pushed it over the table. He looked at me with a small, quizzical smile, and I shrugged helplessly. "Hey, you know I suck at history, alright? Just give me a brief summary of this shit." He just rolled his eyes at me, before his eyes wandered a bit.

"Are you done with that?" he asked, and it took me roughly two seconds to realise that he was looking at my half-eaten food. Smirking knowingly, I pushed it too across the table towards him. I didn't feel like finishing the stuff anyway, and if he was hungry he could have the rest of the stew as payment for saving my ass from the upcoming test.

I watched him as he gobbled down the remaining food from the bowl, his eyes skimming over the pages of the history book at the same time. Shikamaru really had a knack for history; in fact, he was great in just about any class he was taking, and I both admired and envied him a bit for it. While he could definitely have gotten straight A's with ease if he hadn't been so damned lazy, I usually had to struggle pretty hard for my C's and the occasional B. Luckily for me, he seemed to enjoy helping me with just about everything.

Shikamaru and I have been hanging together for what feels like forever. On the first day of school, I remember sitting down next to him, and we've basically been inseparable ever since. He just doesn't seem to mind that I'm not like other girls, and I guess that's why I like hanging around him so much. Plus, he's decent at video games, although I kick his ass in any sport known to mankind. I guess you could say we're a perfect tag team; he delivers the brain, I provide the brawn.

Of course, even my closest friend doesn't even know about the source of my uniqueness. I guess I should've been honest with him and told him about my deepest secret. I really want to, but at the same time I can't help but being scared of his reaction if I told him. Apart from my parents, I don't think there's a living person in the world who knows my shame-filled secret, and I'm very reluctant to share it with anyone.

My smile dropped a little bit as I watched him read the history book, the same thoughts going through my mind. How long was I supposed to keep lying to him? Was I really a good friend to keep this secret from my best friend? The same question always troubled me, and I still couldn't figure out the right answer to it. I stared blankly down at my own hands, troubled by my own thoughts.

"Hey, are you listening?" I was pulled out of my reverie, as his question penetrated my mind. I looked up in bewilderment, and noticed him watching my questioningly. It then occurred to me that I had actually asked him for a walkthrough of the history book, and I shook my head, forcefully clearing away my own brooding thoughts.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked him, with an encouraging smile, doing my best to pretend like nothing was out of the ordinary.

- - - - -

**Shikamaru's POW:**

I sighed softly, an amused smile playing on my lips as I repeated myself again, seeing as Tayuya had not been paying attention the first time. I did my outmost to explain to her the primary goals of each side during the First World War, and the reasons and consequences behind the major actions taken by the warring parties. I knew that too many details would only confuse and overload her mind, so I deliberately kept it very simple, not delving too deeply into the specific details.

I was about halfway through explaining the chapter to her, when I noticed someone approaching our table. As I noticed who it was, I groaned in my mind. What did _he_ want? Tayuya noticed that I stopped talking, and turned her head to follow my gaze. I could see her tensing up. She also knew the person who was coming towards us. Who didn't know him?

Inuzuka Kiba was one of the more popular people among the second-year students in this school. Why that was, I had no idea about, but it probably had something to do with that his family was well-respected, or that he was reasonably handsome for a guy. He had thick, ruffled maroon hair, with two distinct red markings under his blue eyes. He grinned toothily as he approached us.

He stopped in front of the table where I and Tayuya were sitting, regarding us with a look I didn't particularly like. Behind him, I could see two of his entourage, a pair of white-haired twins named Sakon and Ukon. They were almost identical, and with the way they stuck together all the time, I wouldn't actually be very surprised if I one day found out that they were Siamese twins. They at least gave me the impression that they were sharing a single brain, with the combined intelligence of a rather mouldy potato.

After standing and grinning at us for what seemed like a minute, for what I guess was some sort of dramatic effect, Inuzuka Kiba suddenly placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, separating me and Tayuya. He turned his head fully towards her, effectively dismissing me from the conversation.

- - - - -

**Tayuya's POW:**

I leaned backward quickly as the popular guy came uncomfortably close. I tried to look at Shikamaru, but Kiba was in the way, smiling his sleazy smile at me. I looked back at him, giving him a defiant expression to show him that his attitude meant absolutely shit to me. His smile froze slightly, as he stood back up, his eyes still fixed on me.

"Tayuya," he began, using my name like he was an old friend. I watched him with cool disregard, unwilling to give him any impression of being welcome. I had my doubts as to why one of the most popular people in the school was talking to outcasts like us.

"Can I talk to you under four eyes?" he asked bluntly, as his eyes swiped left, motioning towards my best friend on the other side of the table. Seeing as the twins made no sign of moving, I assumed their collective intelligence were considered too small to be included in the 'four eyes'-criteria. Shikamaru looked surprised at the question, before he turned his gaze to me and gave me an apologizing shrug. I was about to open my mouth and say something to hold him back, but then I looked into his eyes. It was as if they said 'Don't bother. I'll catch you later...'. In the next moment, he had pushed the still-open history book across the table towards me and stood up.

"Thanks for the food, Tayuya," he said, before grabbing his bag and walking towards the door of the cafeteria. I looked after him, a twisting grip of irritation seizing my guts. I was taken aback with how abruptly my best friend had stood up and walked away. Not only had he left before finishing with helping me through the history. How dared he leave me behind, alone with this...this...

I turned my irritated gaze to the guy standing in front of me, fixing him with my brown eyes. Being from completely different social circles, I didn't really know what to expect from him, or why he would ask to talk to me in private. I doubted it was anything good, at least not from my point of view.

"What do you want?" I asked him impatiently. Kiba just grinned in response.

**To be Continued...**

Well, that's it for now. As always, comments and criticism is much appreciated! :-)

Haraio


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